It is well known to use a pallet that receives product on an upper, pallet surface thereof. When the product is moved from one location to another, associated equipment is used to lift and/or move the loaded pallet. For example, the pallet includes openings dimensioned to receive arms of a lift assembly such as a forklift or pallet jack whereby the arms are inserted into the openings, the entire pallet raised and supported by the arms, and the mobile forklift/pallet jack used to move the pallet and product to a desired end location where the pallet is lowered so that the load imposed by the product on the pallet is transferred from the pallet to the end location.
As shown and described in the '190 application, one common way to now transport fluid containers such as bottled milk is to place the filled bottles without crates in a stacked array on the pallet. It is difficult, however, to move a fully loaded pallet through a store due to the footprint of a full pallet. As a result, many retail stores do not use motorized forklifts because of the size, noise, and odor associated with using a forklift in a store environment. Likewise, lifting and transporting loaded pallets with the pallet jack still does not overcome the size constraint issue.
Consequently, bottled milk is unloaded in a back room of the store from the pallet and on to a bossy—a frame-like structure having two or more caster wheels for ease of movement in the store. Because the bossy has a smaller footprint than a pallet, the bossy is preferred to transport bottled milk through the store, but usually requires more than one trip to transport all of the bottled milk from the back of the store to the display case. Undesired costs are thus encountered in connection with, for example, (i) the labor required to transfer the product (e.g. milk bottles) from the pallet to the bossy, and subsequently from the bossy to the display case, and (ii) there are additional costs associated with the purchase and upkeep of bossies.
The convertible pallet shown and described in the '190 application addresses at least some of these issues. It has been realized that minimizing the width of a convertible pallet is an important consideration due to standard door sizes through which the pallet must be transported. That is, it is important to address the size (i.e., width) of the convertible pallet since existing doors are less likely to be altered. Further, simplification of the structure that achieves a conversion from a stationary to a movable pallet is also desirable while still providing for a pallet that can (i) easily roll on a flat surface without the assistance of the associated lift equipment and (ii) accommodate well-known lift equipment such as forklifts or pallet jacks.
A need exists for an improved arrangement that addresses at least one or more of the above-described problems of prior arrangements while advantageously maintaining desired benefits of prior devices, as well as achieving still other features and benefits.